The mother of a 21-year-old Melbourne student who died of heart failure after the Moderna vaccine has told parliamentarians that she holds those pushing compulsory jabs “responsible” for her daughter’s death.
Natalie Boyce died in March last year at The Alfred Hospital, five weeks after receiving a “lethal Moderna vaccine booster shot”, her mother Deborah Hamilton told the Senate on Tuesday.
Ms Boyce was the 14th death officially recognised by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) as being linked to Covid vaccines – and the only one Australia’s medicines regulator has linked to heart complications from either the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA shots.
Her mother appeared before a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday afternoon into a bill seeking to protect unvaccinated workers from discrimination under the Fair Work Act. The private member’s bill was sponsored by Liberal Senators Matt Canavan, Alex Antic and Gerard Rennick.
Liberal Senator Rennick, a vocal and at times controversial critic of Covid vaccines, contacted the TGA in October 2021 calling for Moderna to be pulled for young people, as it had been in a number of Nordic countries.
In her prepared remarks, Ms Hamilton recounted the “horrific ordeal” leading up to her daughter’s death, slamming both the vaccine mandates and “medical negligence” at the hands of Victoria’s health system as she outlined a shocking litany of failures and missed diagnoses along the way.
In one brutal twist, Ms Hamilton revealed how the same GP clinic which early on dismissed her daughter’s symptoms as reflux “insensitively” sent the grieving mum a text in February this year reminding her to get her booster shot, “nearly a year to the date of her death”.
“Money is obviously more important to them than people’s lives,” Ms Hamilton said. “This text caused me severe emotional stress.”
She described how her daughter, a “hardworking” Deakin University student, had been “strongly encouraged” by her part-time employer to get vaccinated, and the university required vaccinations to attend campus.
Ms Boyce had two Pfizer vaccinations in 2021 followed by the Moderna booster in February 2022.
“The rules in Victoria we endured over lockdowns were so strict she made the decision to have the vaccine so as not to feel isolated and loneliness anymore and to be able to leave our home to attend work and study,” Ms Hamilton said.
The day after the vaccine she fainted, and soon was experiencing fever, stomach pain and vomiting. Natalie’s condition continued to deteriorate over multiple trips to doctors and several different hospitals.
Ms Hamilton repeatedly noted how even though she was “triple vaxxed, I still was not allowed to be present with my daughter when she needed me the most”.
“What was the point of being vaccinated when I was still banned from supporting my child in hospital?” she said. “I have text messages still in my phone from her pleading for me to come and be with her … this still haunts me today and probably will for the rest of my life.”
Ms Boyce spent her final three weeks unconscious at The Alfred Hospital. “In that time her heart and body gradually collapsed,” Ms Hamilton said.
“Her heart and kidneys were failing, her foot went black from a blood clot, and she lost feeling in her leg. She couldn’t breathe on her own and was put on the highest form of life support, the ECMO machine, which resulted in spinal cord damage.
“If she had survived, Natalie would most likely never have walked again.”
She died on March 27, 2022, while having an MRI.
“Her death certificate states that she died of myocardial infarction and that she had subacute myocarditis,” Ms Hamilton said. “All of this was caused by a Covid vaccine and medical negligence of public hospitals and doctors.”
Warning signs
Ms Hamilton said since her daughter’s death she had discovered there had been warnings as early as November 2021 of the potential risk for people with certain immune conditions.
When she was 15, Ms Boyce had been diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome, an uncommon blood clotting disorder estimated to affect one in 2000 people, mainly young women.
“If I had known of this very real risk, Natalie would never have had another vaccine and I believe she would still be alive today,” Ms Hamilton said.
“We made the fatal mistake of relying on mainstream media. Why was this medical warning not published and communicated to doctors and the public? Where is the informed consent?”
She said she did “not understand how politicians, government and mainstream media can still be pushing people to have Covid vaccines without long-term safety data”.
“People have a right to make an informed decision,” she said.
“All individuals should have a right to choose what vaccines and medications they put into their own body. The government, politicians, Fair Work Commission … should never have the power to mandate vaccines and threaten people of being sacked and destitute.”
She noted that “three years on, vaccine mandates remain in place at most universities and for countless jobs, impacting millions of Australians”.
“No workplace ever should have the right to decide what vaccination an employee must take to be able to work,” she said.
She added that “any of you that are here today that still push for compulsory vaccinations will be responsible for innocent people’s death and injuries … I hold those pushing vaccines accountable for the death of my healthy daughter”.
Ms Hamilton said Moderna “needs to be pulled from Australia immediately so no other person should die from it”.
“Natalie’s death has destroyed my life,” she said. “Natalie had a wicked sense of humour and would always say to me, ‘You better be nice to me as I will be choosing your nursing home.’
“I wish so much that she would have had the chance to do this. Instead, I had to arrange my daughter’s funeral at the age of 21 and now I have her ashes with me at home.”
Mandates ‘saved lives’
In a statement, a spokesman for SG Fleet — which acquired LeasePlan in 2021 — said staff were “deeply saddened by the sudden passing of our colleague Natalie”.
“In keeping with government advice in force at the time, we mandated vaccinations for staff to perform particular activities,” he said.
“This included staff who were actually attending the workplace, either because the nature of their role required it, or because they preferred to work in the office. Vaccination was not otherwise mandated. Where staff expressed any concern about attending the workplace or being vaccinated, we worked with our people to find alternative arrangements, such as a work-from-home set-up, if practicable.”
He said in the case of Natalie’s team, “team members who were unable or preferred not to come to the office were able to work from home”.
“We respect each individual’s right to make a decision regarding vaccination that is right for them and at no stage did the company discuss with Natalie a requirement to be vaccinated or the implications of any vaccination for her employment,” he said.
Earlier this month, the Premier was heckled at a press conference by a passer-by angry about vaccine mandates but insisted he would not “apologise for saving lives”.
“Let me make one thing very clear to you, vaccines work,” Mr Andrews told the man. “I am absolutely, absolutely pro-vaccine … You’ve had your say and you are frankly wrong.”
Last week, the TGA approved Moderna’s application to transition its Covid vaccine from provisional to full registration.
“This is the first Covid-19 vaccine to have received full registration,” the TGA said in a press release.
“In making this decision, the TGA carefully considered long-term follow-up data from a number of studies that confirmed the safety and efficacy for Spikevax. These studies showed a continued immune response after a two-dose primary series and booster dose.
“Importantly, no new safety concerns were identified.”
The decision was “informed by expert advice from the Advisory Committee on Vaccines, an independent committee with expertise in scientific, medical and clinical fields including consumer representation”.
The TGA said its assessment was “rigorous, independent and based on evidence”.
“The safety and efficacy of Spikevax is also supported by real-world use in millions of people worldwide, providing reassurance about the safety of these vaccines,” it said.
“Vaccination remains the most effective way to protect yourself from serious disease, hospitalisation and death.”
frank.chung@news.com.au